♪ born free ♪ ♪ imus in the morning ♪ >> promises, promises, the president sounding desperate. good morning, everyone. in that off the record, then on the record iowa interview, mr. obama said he will work for a grand bargain on the budget. avoid the fiscal cliff. i can, too. a plan for a second term, 20 glossy pages of it, appears the at every rally and promises to tax the rich and create jobs. well, there are 12 days to the election and the president risks looking desperate. the polls are still running against him and so is the economy and the news on it. new job numbers and layoffs still at a very high level. desperation for microsoft.

today introduces windows 8. it's make or break for the one time software king and for its chief, steve ballmer, yes, it's getting very close on the edge. "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] it was designed to escape the ordinary. it feels like it can escape gravity. ♪

the 2013 c-class coupe. ♪ starting at $37,800. ♪

>> okay. i admit it, maybe i was wrong about the on-line game maker zynga, do you remember this? i say there's a limit to how much longer real people will invest real money in these fake farms, therefore, i expect zynga underlying finances. >> i don't believe that, i believe that zynga is going to crank. stuart: well, zynga contraire toy what i said before is not dead. check the stock, it's up right now. even, even though we put it on death watch yesterday. the stock is indeed cranking, it's not because of phantom farmville pigs though, it's because of real money, on-line

gambling and a partnership in the u.k., no on-line gambling deal in the u.s., and the fact that pigs may be a money loser, but zynga on the way back a little bit today. i'm calling it desperation. the president's campaign sees the polls, they know mitt romney is gaining momentum and they're trying to do something to turn it around. and look at the headline in the washington post, obama to renew grand bargain push on budget. so now he says he will try to reach a deal with the republicans to cut the deficit. earlier this week, the president released his 20-page pamphlet on the agenda for the second term. all of this looks very last minute. why did it take so long? perhaps the most telling number today the latest poll from rasmussen, people were asked if the united states is headed in the right direction or the wrong direction. >> 37% said, only 37% said the right direction. and that's still kind of high at the end of last year the number was below 20%, still, that poll is not good news for the

president. and what do you think? are we headed in the right direction? do you think a grand bargain could be reached in the first six months of a second obama term? check out our facebook page, weigh in on that question, please. and here is the story that a lot of country is watching carefully. hurricane sandy, could be a nightmare for halloween, could, wash out on the eastern seaboard, cancel it. winds are kicking up in florida, causing a surf and the storm is expect today strengthen up the east coast and sandy could make land fall in time for trick-or-treat. that could be a very big deal. here it comes, maybe. and it's another big day for tech, microsoft unveils its new operating system today. do or die time for chief steve ballmer and we're following it from the get-go. the election is 12 days away. mitt romney has seized the election, we'll check on florida and we'll have the opening belfour you next.

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>> a big important number came out about an hour ago, jobless claims, 369,000 of them. and that's still a very high number when you had a recession that ended a couple of years ago. we should be at 369.

perhaps more importantly, last week was revised up. to 392,000 new claims and that's a very bad number. we'll have more on that revision in just a moment. and there's another number, too, durable goods orders, all right, that's the state of big ticket item sales and orders therefore. up 9%, however, the previous reporting period they were down 13% so you're still looking at a relatively weak economy. let' go and check the big board in the very early going, we are up seven points and that likely is going to be the opening trend, modestly higher. background on zynga, a 200 million dollar stock buyback, plus, a deal for on-line gambling in britain. all right. so where did the stock open today? higher, i think. >> it's higher, stuart, you know, we have a put a sense of augusts here, i will say the obvious, the stock is jumping, it was up 15%, in the pre-market. right now, it's up 15% at $2.45.

and the two pieces of news that you gave it were great pieces of news, however, the analysts say they're still-- the stock may have bottomed out at $2 and change and they still face challenges and waiting for growth with farmville. there's a lot of uncertainty surrounding this whole zynga and the stock is down 60% in three months and they've lowered forecasts, right? and we'll take it, a great morning for zynga, but they're waiting for a lot more from zynga. >> it came on the market at 10, it dropped to 2. we put it on death watch. we get the deal for on-line gambling in britain. it goes to 2.45 hardly resurrection, but the dow opens with a nearly 80 point gain. i've got another stock alert for you, microsoft is going to unveil the latest version of the

windows operating system this morning, and remember, that i own some of that stock, it opened higher this morning, a 27 cent gain and the new tablet, the surface, also is unveiled this week, tomorrow, actually and microsoft finally trying to give the ipad a run for its money and much more on the microsoft announcement at the top of our next hour. and we've got another big drop in gas prices overnight, repeat, a drop. the national average for regular, almost down 3 cents, we're at 3.59 now, and diesel has broken below 4.10 a drop 22 cents. and the latest read on the jobs picture. the numbers seem to be back to normal if you can call it that. 369,000 people filled first time jobless claims last week and we finally understand the confusing numbers. california undermarted the beginning of october and then corrected it last week. and resulting in an increase in

27,000. peter barnes joins us now, peter, does the revision by california, i'm getting confused here, does it remove the confusion and the mistrust surrounding government employment numbers? >> i think what it does, it clears up what exactly happens, but reminds us that we need to be vigilant and always watch these reports and make sure that we say on top of the numbers, stuart, because it does turn out as you suggested, that california, something was going on out there with its jobless claims at the end of the-- at the end of september, early october, and california, as you recall, got in a big fight with us and other news media organizations, claiming there were no problems out there and all of a sudden in today's report we finally see this big pop in claims that appears to be related to the delays in filing that california denied was going on. stuart: exactly. the big drop from a couple of

weeks ago, that was oh, so convenient for the president's reelection campaign. >> just before the debate. before the debate. >> well done, peter, i think you played a part in straightening this out. we appreciate it, peter barnes, everyone. stuart: the latest polls shows mitt romney keeping momentum in the crucial swing state of florida. the latest rasmussen showed governor romney 51-46, florida. and real clear politics and 4 48-46. senator, are you prepared to call it right here and now, romney wins florida? >> well, i won't call it, i think it's a little premature with two weeks left, but feels good on the ground for the romney campaign, these debates really solidify a win that the governor should have in this state. and i feel good about it as long as the grass roots volunteers execute and get the vote out in the next two weeks.

stuart: senator, which group of voters swung to the governor in the last two weeks? >> i don't know if it's a group of undecided like a lot of folks talk about or if the people came home. a lack of confidence on some on the republican side in governor romney. in a barrage by television commercials and tv snipets it's hard to get the truth, but the debates are clarifying moments and the first debate was a clarifying moment. after that debate, the atmosphere changed here in florida and you can feel the momentum shifting and growing for governor romney. i feel now that governor romney will win florida absent some major change between now and election day. i think it will be a two or three point win, 52-48. stuart: absent a major change, now, hold on for a second. what we've got this morning is a headline in a couple of major newspapers that the president will go forth, go for a grand bargain on the budget. okay? that would fix the fiscal cliff. grand bargain on the bucket. he wants to do that, he says and

he's also got a glossy 20-page plan for what-- hold on a second, those are two items, two promises he's essentially making, could that be a difference, a swing against governor romney in florida. i don't think so, let me take the last one first, spouting out a bunch of ideas you've talked about the last four years, putting them in a glossy brochure, like the kid with the report, and tries it put in the best way possible. the president said you want a grand bargain two years ago, if you read the account by bob woodward that went through the struggle, the president had a bargain and tried to retrade the bargain with speaker boehner and increase revenues by 400 billion. what the president's problem is executing. not in talking. he's a great talker, he's not a great doer. what he proved in the past four years, he couldn't get things done. what he's going to say, grand bargain, new brochures, it's not going to make a difference in my

view the next two weeks. stuart: to wrap it up. do you think that governor romney won all three of the presidential debates and think that paul ryan won the veep debate? >> i think that governor romney did, i thought the second and third debates were closer and certainly if you were a partisan of the president you could find things that you hiked, but what governor romney did in the first debate was a game changer and made him the person with the passion and plan to fix this country and barack obama looking disinterested in being president and the rest of the debates i think really for governor romney shows he has the capability and talent to be president and he can stand on the biggest stage. he can be the leader of the free world which gives people the confidence to make a decision. look you're firing the president of the united states. even for undecided americans, americans in the middle, it's a big decision, i think they feel the confidence there's a better guy for the job. stuart: 12 days before the election, the senator from florida says florida will go one to two points to governor

romney. there's such a thing as videotape and senator you're on it. >> i hope it comes true, thank you so much. stuart: thank you, senator. don't forget we will have an extra serving of "varney & company" on election day and be here at 9:20 usual and 5 p.m. for an election special, all-star lineup. also new the at 10 today. rasmussen's daily tracking poll and we'll have the latest number for you at the top of the hour, does governor romney keep the momentum already established? the answer coming up at 10. time is money, so as we always say, 30 seconds, here is what else we're watching, co-authoring a letter to congress they want action to fix the exploding debt and willing to accept tax increases to do it, will grover norquist agree with na? what will he say? he's on the show later. whatever happened to the do-not-call list? i am on it, but i am still getting harassed by cold calls. i'm mad about it and that will be my take.

and political prop granada is everywhere, and we're going to see a lot more of it the next couple of weeks, we'll talk to john stossel about that. what do you think? send your e-mails right now varney@foxbusiness.com, are you getting a lot more cold calls than you used to? are you? all right. it is what, thursday morning, i've got thursday morning seven early movers for you, angie's list posted a loss, the loss was smaller than expected and the stock is up. best buy said profits this quarter would be significantly below those post add year ago, and unilever said more money is coming in in the third quarter helped by higher prices and the stock is above 30, and health care tech firm, mckesson is buying pss medical for a billion and a half dollars and pss up as you might expect. better than expected profits of the tech firm akamai, and two bucks higher.

and mouse maker logitech, it's down as you might expect. let's not expect mousing, better than expected from ryland, up what, 7%, that's a solid gain indeed. not bad. seven early movers, thursday morning. you heard the latest polls from florida, mitt romney holding on to his lead there, here is the question, will a romney victory spark a market rally? a lot of big names reporting weak outlook for 2013. does that change if romney wins? do they make more money if romney wins. is clint eastwood right? that's next. >> in the last few years, america's been knocked down, 23 million people can't find full-time work, and we borrow 4 billion dollars every single day, from china. if someone doesn't get the job done and hold them accountable, obama's second term would be the rerun of the first and our country can't sit right back. [ male announcer ] at scottrade,

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boring. boring. [ jack ] after lauren broke up with me, i went to the citi private pass page

and decided to be...not boring. that's how i met marilyn... giada... really good. yes! [ jack ] ...and alicia. ♪ this girl is on fire [ male announcer ] use any citi® card to get the benefits of private pass. more concerts.ore events. more experiences. [ jack ] hey, who's boring now? [ male announcer ] get more access wita citi card. [ crowd cheering, mouse clicks ] >> to the big board. it's a pretty modest rally. but a nice come back-- and oil, we've been down recently. i think we're about-- now this. pablo sandoval is the hero of game one of the world series, i believe they call him, how about the only the fourth player to do that in the world series game. they won 8-3 and host game two tonight and of course, it's on

fox. a slew of big companies, dow components among them reporting i'm going to call it a pretty weak series of outlooks for 2013. question, will a romney victory change those outlooks and spark a market rally? rejoining the company is business strategist and former, former-- reformed investment banker, carol roth. welcome to the program. >> it's a long recovery period. stuart: okay, let's suppose that governor romney wins and the republicans do well in the senate and house, market rally? >> absolutely, romney is good for big business and good for small business. romney period is good for business. i think that a lot of what we're seeing is not only our favorite new word, uncertainty, but we have businesses unwilling to spend. they've got plenty of cash on their balance sheets, well over a trillion dollars, but they're not making the investments and they're not hiring and those are the things that lead to lower revenue and lower earnings, so

they feel like they have an advocate. somebody who is not for only the freeway market, but a collaborator who will work across the aisle and avoid the fiscal cliff, i think it's going to be fantastic for everyone across the board and obviously, from a metric, the fundamental standpoint, if those earnings go up shall the markets go up, a very simple math. >> gung-ho airline. >> like kung fu panda. stuart: here is the caveat. governor romney says he would not reappoint ben bernanke, disapproves of all of this money printing. >> and hallelujah for that. stuart: wait a second, the markets like that, they like the pumping out of money. if it came to answered, you know, the gravy train ends, that's surely bad for stocks? >> it's come to an end. we've seen the quantitative easing, we're on the third one infinity here and haven't seen the same bump and the same effect as we did the first couple of times, i think they've run out of juice with that. and now we have to get back to

the fundamentals of the company and cannot use monetary policy to boost the economy forever, it worked for a while, but now we're sort of in a house of cards situation and we have to build a solid foundation. >> let's reverse that. i want to play for our viewers, clint eastwood's view of a second obama term. roll it. >> in the last few years, america's been knocked down, 23 million people can't find full-time work. we borrow 4 billion dollars every single day, most of it from china, and someone who doesn't get the job done, you've got to hold them accountable. obama's second term would be rerun of the first and our country just can't survive that. stuart: our country couldn't survive that with iconic voice. let's turn it around, if he's right and how about that for the market? a second obama term? what do you say happens on the market? >> i think that obama will clearly be very bad for the market because i think we have to get back to the fundamentals of the companies not just monetary policy and i think a

lot of these companies aren't going to be doing the spending. we have a very serious situation with the fiscal cliff and i think if obama's elected, even if that eventually gets solved, it's not going to be right away. stuart: president obama promises today he says he's going to have to grand bargain to fix the budget mess and the fiscal cliff. >> we have four years of imperial evidence, have we had any grand bargains at that worked? i'm going to judge based on what happened before and don't see why the future. stuart: what happens, the market doubled from '09. >> based on monetary policy, but i think that we've run out of juice with that and we can't focus on that. stuart: democrats traditionally are better for the markets than republicans. >>, but we're not in a traditional situation, the worst in years, i'm taking this one to the mat. stuart: you're sticking with it. >> i'm saying romney good, obama bad, very simple. stuart: you're learning television fast young lady. garl roth. thanks, time for the gold

report, are are we, 1715, we're up 13 bucks today. bouncing back just a little. hurricane sandy might not be a hurricane when it reaches the east coast next week, but that does not make it less of a threat to halloween. high winds, rain, possibly even snow on the way. maybe? sandra smith and david asman are next. would sandy cancel trick-or-treat? that would be big, would it not. ♪ follow the wings.

>> hurricane sandy could be a nightmare for us if it continues on its path towards the east coast, i say us, meaning the eastern seaboard. trick-or-treaters across the northeast, well, that whole thing could be wiped out, no halloween, could be. the storm is expected to hit florida, maybe tomorrow morning, and then move up to the eastern seaboard, could cancel trick-or-treating, he asked with a question mark, david asman and sandra smith are with us. that's a big deal canceling trick-or-treat. >> i think that halloween will go on. here is the thing, a lot of retailers might be concerned about the cancellation of halloween, but the money has

been spent and people decorated their homes and bought what they needed for costumes and parties, and retailers should be okay, it's a big holiday. >> and aren't you burying the lead, what's the name of the storm. stuart: sandy. >> i don't want-- >> sandy, david asman is the only one who calls me sandy. stuart: and you'll pay for that asman. >> she likes it. stuart: we don't know when or where the storm hits. >> a perfect storm, remember in 91, did the movie and book and movie. it could be a perfect storm. folks are concerned about this, trick-or-treaters, just kind after inconvenience, but it could-- >> and 'cause it's a long time since you had little kids isn't it? all right. >> i'm getting towards the grandchildren stage. stuart: i've got six grandchildren, i don't want to cancel trick-or-treating for them. terrible. >> have to buy chocolate of your own, god forbid. [laughter]

>> a sore spot. >> wham-o! >> new at ten the latest tracking poll on rasmussen and we've got the number and bring them to you after the top of the hour, a big deal. bob...

oh, hey alex. just picking up some, brochures, posters copies of my acceptance speech. great! it's always good to have a backup plan, in case i get hit by a meteor. wow, your hair looks great. didn't realize they did photoshop here. hey, good call on those mugs. can't let 'em see what you're drinking. you know, i'm glad we're both running a nice, clean race.

no need to get nasty. here's your "honk if you had an affair with taylor" yard sign. looks good. [ male announcer ] fedex office. now save 50% on banners. ♪ [ male announcer ] it was designed to escape the ordinary. it feels like it can escape gravity. ♪ the 2013 c-class coupe. ♪ starting at $37,800. ♪ stuart: new at 10:00 the latest rasmussen tracking poll, romney

50, obama 47. the daily poll of likely voters shows romney keeping his lead. no real bounce for the president from monday's so-called debate win. romney at 50. new at 10:00, make or break, the new windows 8 operating system. make or break, don't say we didn't warn you about illinois. billions of dollars in debt, lowest credit rating of any state in the nation, a report that says higher taxes needed to fix the problem in an illinois? could a federal bailout be far behind? that will come up at 10:45 this morning. a modest bounce after some losses. thursday morning here is the company, sandra smith is with us, david asman is with us the next hour. always on the floor of the stock

exchange. microsoft as we speak unveiling windows 8. big deal. where the stock? nicole: we have been waiting for it, as a shareholder. the stock slightly to the upside. this is the day they begin to make the announcements pertaining to windows 8. you walk in and make a purchase, 1/3 of 1%. introducing as the pc tablet launching 10,000 applications and the ceo saying we are in on this. stuart: i should point out tomorrow with the tablet, the first computer comes out, windows 8 today and the windows 8 phone operating system, all of them out this week. 37 years of history. what say you? nicole: they are all in on this. is going to rollout in pieces.

over the next month or so, it will be full force with windows 8. stuart: a couple numbers before we go further. the latest freddie mac 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate is 3.41%, hovering right around that number for a couple weeks. another number, pending home sales up 1.4%. i am going to call that another piece of pretty moderately good news for the housing industry. the new at 10:00 story the latest numbers from rasmussen, daily tracking poll shows mitt romney with a three point lead fifty-47. we know the obama campaign is seeing the same numbers we are and they are trying to get it turned around. we are now hearing the president will try to get a deal to control the deficit in a second term. the washington post headline from today, obama to renew grand

bargain pushed under budget. why hasn't he been doing this the last six years? the national debt ballooning $6.2 trillion and another rasmussen poll, only 37% say america is headed in the right direction and the most distressing part is that shows an increase in optimism. the number was half that last year. grand bargain on the budget. what do you make of it? sandra: the that two big issues he is bringing up just shy of the election that everyone was looking for him to bring up over the last several years. one here talking about the debt which was long ago he was one of the net nightly talk shows. when he would say how much did that in the country was. now he is talking about it and talking about immigration legislation. that is important for hispanics in key swing states. the debt for independent voters. what is interesting is all of this is being unveiled in an

interview with the des moines register, largest newspaper in iowa. he 0 originally gave this interview from florida over the phone with the newspaper off the record but after the senior editor of the newspaper put out a blog saying the interview was a disservice to voters, the obama campaign said put it on the record because he is trying to win the endorsement of the specific newspaper. dave: by throwing them under the bus. stuart: it is a promise of a grand bargain because he knows the fiscal cliff and the budget mess is a real issue for voters. [talking over each other] dave: they went through this process a couple years ago. last year they went through again and that led to the sequestering which the president misled the public into believing he had nothing to do with when it was his people who formulated the sequester according to bob woodward and other people. do they think we are idiots?

they are not going to do a grand bargain. he was never serious about it in the first place. sandra: two weeks before election day if you were serious about this it would have come out -- stuart: i characterize it as desperation. promises promises. the new plan and the grand bargain. two promises. smacks of being a little desperate. dave: of the president said mitch mcconnell has imposed a filibuster the first day i was in office and that was not speculation. for two years mitch mcconnell was in the minority. he didn't control the senate. democrats did. stuart: here's what you are saying about president obama's grand bargain. russ says as you said too little too late. gordon says for four years he has been unwilling to negotiate a reasonable deficit reduction plan agreed is potential to work. pamela says if our country wasn't at risk i would almost find it comical. he has batted heads with

republicans for four years and now having a change of heart. chiming please. a great debate going every day. on election day you will get a double serving of "varney and company". clinton for punishment, aren't you? we will be at our normal time, 9:20 and back for a second serving at five:00 eastern. you don't want to miss this. and all star cast of characters. the national debt above $16.2 trillion. it has exploded under president obama. remember when he crossed $16 trillion during the democrat convention sept. fourth? it has gone up $200 billion in 50 days. what does grover norquist think of that? are taxes the only way to lower the debt? you will say no to that but a group of ceos said yes. we will get grover's response at 10:34. microsoft launching its latest attack against apple in the tablet work releasing its new surface tablet tomorrow. the company also released the

latest version of its software for windows viii. could these new products be make or break for the tech giant as a whole? techno buffalo john -- i love that name, technobuffalo join us now. first of all, windows 8. a lot of people don't like it because it is so different. these little tiles on that, >> a complete revolutionary, surface tablet coming out tomorrow. a huge gamble for microsoft. they control 82% of market share. it represents the paradigm shift for how to use windows. stuart: are they going to like it?

it is very different. people find it different to adjust to clicking on tiles as opposed to shipping things around. >> people don't respond that well to change. they will find the windows 8, difficult to use and manage. they are equipped with touchscreens. and slight. really enjoyed windows 8 and bring new factors as well. wacked-out won't just open up like a clamshell design. they will flip over and have a lot of other features that make a more tablet center. stuart: you like it. you say this is not make or break. it is somewhere in the middle because people are going to use this windows 8 system. >> people have no choice but to use it but they at and alpha for the better part of a few months, i have grown to appreciate it and in a rare market as far as technology and it took me time.

these are very difficult. things like shutting down and closing applications are not what they once were. for generations they're going to have difficulty. stuart: what about steve? he has been running the company for ten years or longer. is this last for raw? he is out? >> seems like we have a conversation like this every year. he is always on the edge. he has taken a big risk for a few reasons. microsoft for the first time is making their own hardware. never presenting millions of dollars that have gone into research and are in deep. windows 8 and windows phone h r his babies. stuart: answer the question. if it doesn't make it is he going to be forced to resign? a lot of shareholders like myself are waiting for microsoft to perform, waiting for steve to perform and you say? >> yes.

nothing is more public than windows and microsoft office and both are on the way. stuart: all right. technobuffalo, thank you for being with us. back to nicole. wind resorts stock is higher. i want to know why. nicole: they came out with numbers and adjusted earnings beat the street. income fell. heavy debt related expenses, revenue was flat. but they did beat with adjusted earnings and also raised the dividend. las vegas company with a global footprint, saw growth year-over-year but even the growth they are seeing with a slower pace. that is what we are seeing. take it as a win today. it is up 6.5%. i know you don't live in the casino but it is fun for a weekend. stuart: i go to casinos but i don't gamble. i enjoy seeing people gamble. i like seeing other people lose money. nicole: i took numbers on black

or red or number 8 or number 2. stuart: you got me all wrong. i think las vegas is fascinating. this is what private enterprise can do in the middle of the desert. it can create this extraordinary place in the middle of the desert if you let private enterprise get ahead and do it. that is why i like vegas. nicole: you like fun but don't want to spend your money or lose your money. we got it. stuart: i just don't gamble. thank you. dow is up 76. here is the latest read on the jobs picture. the numbers, can you say they are back to normal. 369,000 filed jobless claims, first-time benefits last week. we finally understand those numbers from earlier this month. california underreported and corrected last week. resulting in an increase of 27,000. does this remove the mystery and the mistrust of a government

employment number? dave: on the contrary. increases the mistrust. we all knew there was funny business going on with the numbers as we suspected there was when the overall number the couple weeks ago was n back then. we had these tremendously lower numbers of october 6th that came out of 44,000 job increases which was much less, 44,000 unemployment increase much less than expected and you have a revision which shows 60% jump in the unemployment rate. there has been some fiddling with the numbers. i don't know if it was an honest mistake or a dishonest mistake but it was a mistake and any more mistakes on top of the mistakes we have seen make people mistrust. not only unemployment jobs numbers but inflation numbers. people go to the stores and see the price rising and obviously gas prices rising and the cost of city services rising. there is inflation and yet the government refuses -- sandra: people pay attention to these numbers and as you lead in with the last story new at 10:00

people are feeling a little bit better about the economy, the direction of the economy but they are being misled by the numbers. stuart: all right. critics say that political campaigns are getting too nasty these days. too much political propaganda on both sides. getting nasty in an election is nothing new. john stossel is next. propaganda has been part of our election since our country's early history. >> are you prepared to see you're dwellings in flames? female chastity violated? children riding a bike? i am john adams and i approve this message because jefferson is the son of factory indian squaw ratings on hotcakes. you see us, at the start of the day. on the company phone list that's a few names longer. you see us bank on busier highways. on once empty fields. everyday you see all the ways all of us at us bank

are helping grow our economy. lending more so companies and communities can expand, grow stronger and t back to work. everyday you see all of us serving you, around the country, around the corner. us bank.

stuart: stocks up this thursday morning. dow jones industrial average as a 70 point gain. two numbers on housing, pending home sales up slightly and freddie mac mortgage rate rising ever so slightly, near a historic low of 3.41%. jobless claims 369,000 in the latest and we have some clarification on the weird jobless numbers from earlier this month. california underreported, corrected it resulting in an increase of 70,000 previous

week. here she's making a profit of $176 million in the recently completed quarter. halloween candy sales of to a good start but a problem looming. the candymaker, hurricane sandy is coming. could hit the northeast on halloween and we are back in 90 seconds with john stossel.

stuart: interesting news alert. the british economy is out of a

double-dip recession posting the strongest growth rate in five years. you can't say it surged. expanded by 1% in the third quarter but that was an expansion. olympic ticket sales and service businesses apparently helped the british. if you think you got it back in ohio with the wall-to-wall coverage and campaign ads on tv let's go back a few short years and listen to this. >> are you prepared to see you're dwellings in flames? female chastity violated? children riding a bike? >> i'm john adams and i approve this mmssage because jefferson is the son of a half breeding indian squaw raised on hotcakes. stuart: not just a few short years. but believe me. the exact words that were spoken and printed in the 1800s by presidential candidates. john stossel on fox business, devoted the entire show to political propaganda. give me a modern-day version of

that propaganda. john: one clip from reason tv illustrates it was always worse than ever. someone said on my show. we have more media now. [talking over each other] john: as i prepared for the show i am astonished -- if you go back in 2008 president obama, i am cutting more than i am spending. will be a net spending cuts. go through the budget line by line, programs that don't work we should cut. and he just doesn't. the press lets it go. romney by contrast has this reputation that he is going to shrink the government, but then you look at the data, he says no education cuts, federal education department, $100 billion a year, i am not going to cut it. he wants to keep the popular parts of obamacare which will

make insurance more expensive than ones a trade war with china and increase military spending. this is small government? no. stuart: there is a difference between the vitriol from the 1800s -- that was vicious stuffed. and what -- just words--but vicious words nonetheless. you could not do that nowadays. you misleading a more select fashion. john: that is true. as we parse the word it is nice to remember in america we just call each other names. dave: you say just words. they had tools back then. tell that to alexander hamilton. john: that was rare. occasionally someone with a black someone with a cane in congress but it was rare. [talking over each other] stuart: he was almost beaten to death on the floor of congress.

supposing politicians were held accountable for what they had said, don't you have some example of a focus group? john: trying to make correlations with business, of the innovative in many ways. domino's pizza was not doing well. they ran focus groups, pizza crust taste like cardboard and they ran it in commercial plans that we hear you, we are going to improve. >> what a politician did that? [talking over each other] stuart: could you win an election as a politician, that was -- john: i was wrong. i promised to cut but i will do it this time. [talking over each other] stuart: you could not win with that in this day and age. he would be pumped to death by the opposition. john: i would like to hear him say it. i shouldn't have spent so much. i will do better. this time i will cut. i really will. stuart: this is your show

tonight. political propaganda, vitriol and truth telling. you can watch it at 9:00 p.m. eastern time on the fox business network. the show is called stossel, john stossel delivers at 9:00. a failure at the federal trade commission and it gets personal. i have had it with those calls on my man line. my take on the do not call list is next. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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>> the ideas you talked about the last four years, the kid who has got the homework report, the report not so great but the best package possible. i don't think that changes anything. stuart: that was george lemieux in the last hour clearly unimpressed. for a check of the big board, the dow is up 68. and in europe, and the west stock? >> up 2%. this is cost-cutting measures.

and they were producing and if they had major demands. and cutting costs and three plants in europe, $500 savings over the next two years. and there could be job cuts as well. stuart: thanks so much. the national debt goes up $4 billion a day. the last 51 days, $400 billion. now 80 of america's top ceos with an open letter of tax reform. tax reform that broaden the tax base, lowers rates, raises revenue and reduces the deficit. grover norquist from americans for tax reform joins us at 10:34. is he happy with that ceo statement? tax revenue? we get his reaction a few

minutes from now. this is an unscientific poll. >> tonight, america on the verge of another major oil spill. a new report. then surprise. a new tax. stuart: this is an unscientific poll. i ask four colleagues this question. have you been getting a lot of cold calls on your land line all for said yes and we don't really like this at all. here is my take on the do not call list. it worked well for a while but in the last few months even though my numbers on the list, the calls have started up again. three calls upset the stuart varney household.

the federal trade commission administers the do not call list. they told me i am still on it so why the calls? turns out if you have, quote, a commercial relationship with a company the rules have been relaxed recently and they can call you with for example special offers. that is why most of the calls come from credit card companies, utilities, mail-order food deliveries and banks. you do business with them they can call whether you are taking a nap or eating dinner with the family. nonprofits can call too. charities can ask you for money. i understand why i am getting these calls. if you are a marketing director you want to get the word out and a land mine called beats a letter or even e-mail but frankly i hate it. i am watching fox, the phone rings, i have to get up, listen to a sales pitch and there's nothing i can do about it. i can't turn the land line off and i do have a commercial relationship with dozens of companies. i bet it is the same for you.

but there's one thing i and my four colleagues are being forced to consider, dropped the land line. i can watch fox without interruption, that thing on the wall on the other side of the room is gone. stuart: we are going to have a modest rally still in progress. we were up 80 points and now we are up 50. i am going to call that a modest gain. a lot of numbers out this morning, none of the really negative. same old same old on the weekly jobless benefit claims, a high number but not that bad compared to the last year.

modest improvement in handing home sales. we got that. a couple other numbers none of which made a real big deal for the stock market. we are drifting along up 50 after quite a few big declines recently. i have another news alert for you right now. former goldman sachs director raja gupta was sentenced to two years in federal prison for leaking corporate secrets about the bank to a hedge fund at the height of the financial crisis. he was implicated in 2010 investigation of former galion group chief raj rajaratnam. his friend and business associate. joining the company from chicago is scott kennedy. something tells me you are not impressed with this morning's job numbers even though they were down from last week. you are not impressed. >> i am not impressed. are to find any numbers to get excited about. the government has beaten me over the head. a number that is not as bad as

expected is now good. all in all everything in the desk is telling us things are not changing or getting better and i think things get worse before they get better. stuart: you think things get worse before they get better. headed for recession? >> we could make a run at it. gdp coming out tomorrow and we are excited about one.8% gdp. what happened to america? at an end of the day, we have put earnings expectations so low and still can't get over them, i am finding anything that makes us feel better. we could talk about gas prices being lowered, we have an oversupply of oil getting slammed too because the economy is not doing well. where is the good news coming from? stuart: it is being manufactured for you. >> i agree. stuart: thanks very much. we will tune in to you again tomorrow. the heads of 80 major u.s.

company sending of a letter to congress. they want action on closing the budget deficit and shrinking the national debt. among those signing it, jamie dimon and jpmorgan's jeff immelt, microsoft's steve palmer. here is part of the letter. the plan should include comprehensive and pro-growth tax reform which broadens the base, lowers rates, raises revenue, reduces the deficit. joining us now is grover norquist of americans for tax reform. you are the paramount opponent of any kind of tax increase. what do you make of that letter? >> didn't actually say tax increase. they said revenue increase. the taxpayer position is if you have more growth, if the economy grows 3% the year instead of 2% year for one decade you get $2.5 trillion of additional revenue. you want more revenue, had a pro-growth tax policy. take the top growth of 35 as obama wants to do upwards of 44

but down to 25. stuart: you approve of raising tax revenues if it is lowering tax rates. >> i am in favor of higher revenue from economic growth, not from higher taxes. what simpson-bowles has done, this is an attack on the president's position which is higher marginal tax rate, the pace to presents. stuart: that is your take away on this letter. >> somebody who wanted to argue for higher taxes could say i see revenue and there may be tax increases and he could design a tax increase you want. the business guys wrote something, they had a lot. they didn't come down hard but lower marginal tax rate, romney's position, the exact opposite of obama's position and

going for growth as the way to raise revenue, that is the position the republican party put forward. there's only one plan on the table that fits the bill of what these 80 c e os talk about, the ryan plan which passed with every republican vote, four guys in the house of representatives has the help of the republican senate and romney's position. they have endorsed the only written plan which is the republican plan to reform entitlements to block welfare's clinton did but to do it with most of the 185 different welfare programs the federal government runs. stuart: you are comfortable with the way things are going. if romney gets into the white house republicans do well in the senate and keep control of the house, tax reform, lower marginal rates. you think is going to happen? >> absolutely. it is not mitt romney says he's for it but republican house which has actually voted on

this. real bill in legislative form. republicans in the senate voted for a real budget. the alternative, there is no obama budget except in outline form that a single democrat has voted for. simpson-bowles if you actually read it most of the numbers are page numbers but a couple numbers actually matter. taking taxes from 18% gdp to 20%. over a decade that is a $5 trillion tax increase. and the $5 trillion -- how many members of congress are unaware how big a tax increase simpson-bowles is. stuart: i want to ask you if the debt is a really big and prominent issue in this election? yesterday we looked at the calendar and the debt clock and found in the last 50 days our outstanding national debt had gone up precisely $200 billion.

fifty-one days it has gone 240. it is literally $4 billion a day. i think this is the sleeper issue because it is not that prominent in the election campaign. i am surprised that this but i don't thing is prominent. >> the debt and the deficit are another way of saying the explosion of spending over the last four years under obama and nancy pelosi and harry reid, they spent so much they couldn't even tax enough to pay for it. stuart: romney is not pounding that. >> he is focusing on spending which is more important than the deficit because spending, all the money they take in taxes plus what they borrow, spending is the total damage the government does to the economy. the death just shows you -- [talking over each other] >> the debt is just a number but is tte government's spending money well for solyndra etc.? that is something specific you can hang your hat on?

>> and they are wasting. stuart: i you satisfied with the way republicans and romney and ryan are going at this? are they hard enough? >> when they speak they are clear about where they want to go. seen through cbs's explanation is a little fuzzy. that is why romney did better and ryan did better when they had a debate. they were able to talk to the american people. stuart: the republicans -- yoo are fighting the establishment media because the message has to be filtered through the establishment media and it doesn't go through that filter. dave: to your point romney could do more to focus on those stakes, awful spending -- romney is not going there. [talking over each other] >> should have flown to chicago during the teachers' strike. the democratic party cannot stand up to organized labor.

and the teachers' union is not the same as education. there are ways to dramatize it but he is busy winning. his advisers -- with the one? stuart: characterized as overly harsh and do you down you 47%. the doesn't like you. he has countered that image and is winning. what is wrong with that? >> a few hours on national tv, interrupted but reasonably unfiltered has destroyed what $300 million in negative ads were supposed to have accomplished. stuart: you think romney wins? how many points? >> in the popular vote by more than four. ohio moving in the right direction. for a looking very good. national number is going well. win the women's vote going as well as it is, the attempt by

the obama administration to slander romney has failed. [talking over each other] stuart: romney wins with five points. of personal prediction and glad to see grover norquist -- >> where do think i get my information? watch your show. stuart: do you really? you do on a regular basis? i am so flattered. >> i have to work sometimes. stuart: thank you very much. you can come back any time you like. thank you very much indeed. a shocker of a report from the illinois. the state's debt exploding. does this mean a federal bailout coming for the insolvent state of illinois if president obama gets a second term? cook what yolove, and save your money. joe doesn't know it yet, but he'll wk his waup from busser to waiter to chef before opening a restaurant

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stuart: we turn to the flat side on wall street. we were up 70 and now we are 37. the dow has been down big, yesterday closed below 13,100. we have proctor and gamble giving the dow a bit of a boost. big company making household products that you use. $20 billion a year. it is cutting costs and that has resulted in higher profits. the network is down big, networking equipment, many

telecom customers spending less and down it goes. those awful rubber shoes, sales were not as good as expected. coming back in 90 seconds to talk about the mess in illinois created by its massive debt. from local communities to local businesses. the potential of yelp unlocked. nyse euronext. unlocking the world's potential. to a currency market for everyone. the potential of fxcm unlocked. nyse euronext. unlocking the world's potential.

stuart: microsoft unveiling windows 8. where is the stock?

nicole: is up slightly. microsoft unveiling windows 8. it has been awaited for a long time. today is the day we hear more and tomorrow you can go in stores and actually get it. stuart: it is below $28 a share. apple release the ipad mini and report earnings "after the bell" today. what is going on? nicole: a little bit of a debt for apple. not far off of the unchanged line and the ipad mini, the news is out and earnings coming out but there seems to be a lot of folks on wall street who think going into the holidays you should buy this stock because it continues to go higher later in the year. that is -- security. stuart: this is one of those dips, people have not bought it. don't know what happens after the earnings report later today but this is one of those dips people have not been buying. nicole: something is further down to go before you see a real end of the selling.

there are a lot of high hopes for the holidays. stuart: how about zynga? we put it on deathwatch but that may have been a mistake. nicole: this is a real winner today. is up 13% after their quarterly numbers, they have a challenging road ahead for the quarter. adjusted numbers beat the street and so we are seeing a jump and buybacks. stuart: getting into online gaming in britain, a very travel market in britain but zynga is now in it. thank you very much indeed. illinois's huge that is taking its toll according to an examination of the state finances by the state budget crisis taskforce. roads and bridges are suffering because of years of mismanagement. here is why. we affectionately call ill. the land of red ink. >> shouldn't be laughing.

i was born and raised in the state of illinois and currently a resident of the state. it is the messy situation. a lawyer has the lowest credit rating of the 50 states. it has the second-largest that per-capita only second to the state of new york. the commuter systems are a mess. bridges are a mess. for really ugly situation. education system. it goes back to grover norquist's point. they're talking about raising taxes. this is the last time to raise taxes. you want to increase revenue in the state by encouraging growth. you don't want to business. [talking over each other] dave: it lead to the opposite result. the governor set i am going to raise taxes instead of lower taxes and look what happens. you have even more debt than you did before to drive business out of the state, less economic -- [talking over each other] sandra: they chased companies and businesses out when they were just starting to come.

stuart: if i am starting a business or running a medium-sized business and want to expand some place why on earth when i expand in california or illinois or new york? why wouldn't i go to oklahoma were texas? for florida? sandra: a very good reason to locate business in illinois. you are in the middle, you have a lot of access to a big city and all the surrounding states. there are a lot of good reasons to be there but they're not incentivizing anybody. dave: we mentioned new york is the highest debt per-capita ratio. in illinois is $9,000 per capita. in new york is there clean thousand eight hundred. we are talking about illinois. it won't be long before we talk about new york. stuart: we will talk about it when it happens. thursday night football great for the nfl, but the athletes on the field say it is bad for the players. one comes first? money or player safety?

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stuart: tonight i am told the minnesota vikings will play the tampa bay buccaneers there is the night football. there's a thursday night game every week.

as good for the nfl network which airs the game, good for revenue but it means playing with only three days rest which might not be great for players safety. joining us is keith bullock who played 11 years in the nfl with the titans and the giants. i got your name wrong and apologize. [talking over each other] stuart: have you ever been interviewed by an english men before? >> no i haven't. before i came and i got nervous because it was my first time. your accent is a little different but i can keep up. stuart: i know nothing about football. you really think a thursday night game, one every week is a safety issue? >> it could turn into a safety issue from the standpoint that if you play game on sunday you only have three days to recover and go back on but feel there is a. for a younger player it could be easier, it takes longer for your muscles to heal and get back up

to speed. stuart: there is no way nfl players will stop this. are too much money involved. your best bet is to extract more money from the owners for playing thursday night games. >> just a recent poll interviewed 300 current and former players, a lot of players know that it is not good for the body but at the same time that is what the sport demands. each individual in the nfl you have a choice to play professional football or you can get another job but i don't think a lot of people who have this opportunity to play a game they have loved since childhood and it is very lucrative would have the opportunity up. stuart: have you kept your money? >> i am very good. very good with my finances. the way i grew up by didn't come

from having a lot of money so i knew once i got my first check i was blessed to be a first-round draft pick so i had a nice signing bonus and always knew that money would get me through my life. another opportunity to sign a multimillion-dollar deal -- stuart: when you didn't spend it -- i asked the question because i'm looking at a watch -- >> presidential role lax. my retirement gift. if you are smart with your money you can do things like that. stuart: when you call that on fifth avenue. [talking over each other] >> for me -- [talking over each other] stuart: serious question. i wanted to raise the issue of a gentleman named jerrod gate nehr. you have heard of him. 335 pounds, runs real fast. there as a safety issue. that man is a giant. he could run -- you get hit by that guy, you feel it.

there is a safety issue. >> see him get out of the way. the full contact sport, there will be safety issues all the way around. there is the percussion issue and other issues other than just simply concussions and the body goes to the wear and tear and somebody retired, i worry about the lingering effects. stuart: are you in great shape? >> not necessarily now but six or seven or eight years from now i will start feeling lingering lasting effects for 11 years in the nfl land that is what i am willing to put up with. stuart: the first interview with an english when you did very well. [talking over each other] stuart: what a pleasure. the highlight reel is next.

stuart: is tha it is at that tie highlight reel. >> are you prepared to see your dwelling in flames? >> political campaigns are getting too nasty these days. >> children rising. >> getting nasty at an election is nothing new. >> on john adams, i approve this message. >> remember, they had duals back then. you cannot do that nowadays. you would mislead. theyou believe they actually sad that back in the day? >> it was amazing. >> astonishing. >> we have more media now. they were even nastier back then. >> thank you very much. one and all. yours.